Hypodermic needle



A. E. SMITH.

HYPODERMIC NEEDLE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20, I920.

Patented July 12, 1921.

I I I awuemtoz ARTHUR E. SMITH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

HYPODERMIG NEEDLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 12, 1921.

Application filed January 20, 1920. Serial No. 352,712.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR E. SMITH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and'useful Improvements in Hypodermic Needles, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to hypodermic needles of the character commonlyemployed in conjunction with hypodermlc syringes and its object is toprovide a needle of the character indicated provided with a guard whichwill reinforce the needle and prevent breakage of the same at itsjuncture with the cap or hub of thesyringe, will serve as a gage todetermine how far the needle may be injected into the tissue and willserve as i a means for withdrawing the needle from the tissue if theneedle becomes broken off from the hub.

A further object of the invention is to provide a needle adapted for usein anesthetizing the second or superior maxillary division of the fifthnerve and it contemplates the provision of a needle s0 constructed as tocause the lateral surface of the superior maxillary bone to constitute apoint of support for the needle durin its introduction to the tissue atthe point w ere the fifth cranial nerve crosses the sphenomaxillaryfossa or just before the nerve branch enters the posterior part of thefloor of the orbit.

Since the insertion of the needle in an operation of the characterindicated is in a more or less inaccessible part of the mouth, theinvention further contemplates the provision of means for reinforcingand bracing the needle at the point of juncture with its nozzle or hubto thereby guard against breakage of the needle at its weakest point,

vizv at the juncture of the needle with the hub; and it alsocontemplates the provision of means to enable the operator to withdrawthat part of the needle which is in the tissue if the needle should, inspite of the guard provided, break off at its juncture with the hub.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in thedetailed de-,

scription which now follows.

In the accompanying drawing- Figure 1 is a perspective view illustratinga part of a skull and the application of the needle;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the needle;

F g. 3 is an enlarged sectional view illustratlng the juncture betweenthe needle and 1ts nozzle or hub and Fig. 4 is a detail view of amodification showing the application of the invention upon a straighthub and needle.

Like numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the severalfigures of the drawing.-

Referring to the drawing 5 designates a hub that is adapted to fit uponthe nipple 6 of a hypodermic syringe 7 in the usual and known way, asfor example, by means of a ground joint. The hub 5 is extended to form anozzle 9, the extremity of which is curved or bent at 10 and carries aneedle 11. The bend 10 is of such nature as to cause the needle 11 to healmost, but not quite, at right anglesto the body of the nozzle 9 withthe result that when the nozzle is inserted in the mouth in substantialparallelism with the upper teeth, the needle 11 will lie against and besupported by the posterior lateral surface of the superior bone duringthe time that the needle is being inserted into the tissue to the pointwhere the fifth cranial nerve crosses the spheno-maxillary fossa. Thesupport thus provided for the needle, which must be of considerablelength in order to reach the point where it is to be inserted, bracesand supports the needle and tends to prevent breakage of the same. As afurther support for the needle the extremity of the nozzle is reducedand threaded at 12 for the reception of a nut 13 that carries a spiral14 of wire, the outer convolutions of which are reduced in diameter tocause them to tightly frictionally engage the body of'the needle andfurther aid in supporting the same at the weakest point, which is at thejuncture of the needle with the nozzle.

The frictional engagement provided by the spiral being reduced in themanner set forth, renders it possible to withdraw the needle even thoughthe needle becomes broken off at its point of juncture with the nozzle.This is a feature of very great importance since, with an ordinaryconstruction it has often been found necessary to cut and mutilate thetissue in an endeavor to remove needles that have been broken offtherein. An enlarged portion 15 between the hub 5 and the nozzle 9 hasits 0 posite faces flattened as indicated at 16 and 17 to provide fingergrasps. It will be observed that the provision of the elongated nozzle 9renders it unnecessary to put the body of the syringe 7 in the patientsmouth, but that upon the contrary it is possible for the operator tograsp the nozzle by the finger grasps 16 and 17 and to hold the needlefirmly in proper osition while operating the syringe entire y outside ofthe mouth. The structure illustrated in Fig. 4 is substantially the sameas that hereinbefore described except that the needle lies insubstantial alinement with the hub and nozzle. Here the hub has beendesignated 5, the nozzle 9 and the needle 11*, otherwise, the structureis the same as hereinbefore set forth.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the preciseconstruction set forth but that it includes within its purview whateverchanges fairly come within either the terms or the spirit of theappended claims.

Having described my invention, claim is:

1. A hypodermicneedle comprising a hub portion, a nozzle portion havingits ex tremity bent to substantially a right angle, a needle carried bysaid extremity and a guard secured to said extremity and con-- sistingof a spiral metallic element some of the convolutions of which arerestricted to frictionally engage the body of the needle.

2. A hypodermic needle comprising a what I hub portion, a nozzle portionhaving its extremity bent to substantially a right angle, a needlecarried by said extremity and a guard comprising a spiral and a nut theextremity of the nozzle being threaded for the reception of said nut.

3. A hypodermic needle comprising a hub portion, a nozzle portion havingits extremity bent to substantially a right angle, a needle carried bysaid extremity and a guard comprising aspiral and a nut secured to saidspiral, the extremity of the nozzle being threaded for the reception ofsaid nut and the spiral having its outermost convolutions restricted tocause it to frictionally engage the needle.

4. A device of the character described comprising a nozzle and a needleattached to said nozzle in combination with a guard attached to saidnozzle, said guard comprising a metallic spiral which frictionallyengages the said needle,

5. A device of comprising a nozzle and a needle attached to said nozzlein combination with a guard connected to said nozzle, said guardcomprising a spiral of metal the outermost convolutions of which arerestricted to cause it to frictionally engage with the body of theneedle.

6. A device of the character described comprising a nozzle having athreaded extremity and a needle secured to said nozzle in combinationwith a nut adapted to be threaded upon the extremity of the nozzle and acoil carried by said nut which engages said needle for a portion of itslength.

7. A structure as recited in claim 6 Wherein some of the coils arerestricted to cause them to frictionally engage the needle.

. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ARTHUR E. SMITH.

the character described

